In this brilliant collection of essays, Finding Beauty in the Gray invites you into the living rooms, backyard gardens, mountain apple orchards, and coastal boardwalks of folks approaching, or in the fertile soil of, their retirement years. This landscape offers excitement, and maybe some trepidation, as Third-Agers navigate the questions: "Who am I today? Who or what matters to me now? What gifts do I have to offer myself and my community?"Follow Hugh Willard as he shares the stories of Third-Agers gathered at cocktail parties; by neighbors' mailboxes; in his counseling practice; and even at the literal feet of two-story, recycled, wooden trolls in coastal Maine. Hugh gives voice to their experiences and some of his own through lively, joyful, and, at times, gritty essays. Complementing these essays and themes are some of Hugh's poems-verses of love, loss, legacy, play, and always beauty.